A new revolution is gaining momentum—a surge of innovation that involves vast ecosystems of sensors, devices, and networks that can transmit and receive data. With an estimated number of connected “things” reaching over 25 billion by 2020, the “Internet-of-Things” (IoT) is widely regarded as the next technological frontier.
Existing IoT deployments range from single device implementations to massive cross-platform systems that include tens, hundreds, or sometimes thousands of heterogeneous devices. Tying it all together are different communication protocols that enable these various components to talk to each other.
Because IoT is still in its infancy, however, its underlying technologies remain fractured. Alliances and coalitions are being formed in hopes of someday unifying the IoT landscape. But, at the present time, there is still no central IoT standard or deployment oversight. Consumers and providers continue to face ever-increasing deployment, architecture, analytics, and security challenges.